Andhra Pradesh Cabinet clears welfare scheme for EBC women

The Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet has decided to implement a welfare scheme to assist Economically Backward Caste (EBC) women from the next financial year.

Under the new scheme named EBC Nestam, the government will provide financial assistance of Rs 45,000 to each woman beneficiary aged between 45 and 60 years, handing Rs 15,000 per annum for three years.

Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday, information minister Perni Venkatramaiah said that the government would allot Rs 670 crore per annum for the scheme, totalling to over Rs 2,000 crore.

The YSRCP ministers also discussed the issue of privatisation of the Visakhapatnam steel plant and decided that the government should move a resolution in the Assembly opposing the move, “to put more pressure on the Union government.”

The Cabinet gave the nod for the Kadapa Steel Plant works at a cost of Rs 10,082 crore and Rs 6,000 crore under phase 1 and 2, with a capacity building of three million tonne in each phase, through a joint venture.

The Cabinet has also decided to amend the laws to ensure that the inquiry in corruption cases where government officials caught red-handed by the ACB sleuths is completed within 100 days, from the existing two-year duration.